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BIG STORY: MORE RUSSIA SANCTIONS, via Philip Ewing: “The U.S. sanctioned defense exports to Russia on Monday, but it wasn’t immediately clear what effect that would have on American companies or Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Obama administration officials said the restrictions were part of the international campaign to pressure Putin to walk back his military incursions into Ukraine. The White House also said it would sanction more key Russian individuals, banks and companies.” http://politico.pro/1mS9wm3

— ICYMI: Peter Baker’s A-1 above-the-fold story in yesterday’s Sunday Times about how the sanctions revived the quest for Putin’s alleged secret fortune: “For years, the suspicion that Mr. Putin has a secret fortune has intrigued scholars, industry analysts, opposition figures, journalists and intelligence agencies but defied their efforts to uncover it. Numbers are thrown around suggesting that Mr. Putin may control $40 billion or even $70 billion, in theory making him the richest head of state in world history.” http://nyti.ms/1fGEJAZ

POP QUIZ — The U.S. high school graduation rate is expected to top which percentage by 2020? Stephanie Simon’s got the answer in our policy section. Keep reading …

RABBIS, EVANGELICALS AGREE ON TAXES, via Kelsey Snell: “Rabbis, evangelicals and other religious groups agree on at least one thing: the sanctity of a tax break. A hodgepodge of religious organizations are siding with the IRS in a case likely to make its way to the Supreme Court over whether ministers can take advantage of tax-free cash to cover housing.

“The case pits those who say stripping the tax break away would force the feds to decide what counts as protected religion against atheists and others who say the break violates the constitutional separation of church and state.” http://politico.pro/1k60f3m

TALK OF THE TOWN: SARAH PALIN’S MISSING SECOND ACT, via Robert Costa for The Washington Post: CLIVE, Iowa — “Inspired by the possibility of a Sarah Palin presidential run, Peter Singleton moved to this suburban community from California in November 2010 and booked an extended stay at the Days Inn on 114th Street. Palin was a tea party queen-maker at the time, and true believers like Singleton could sense a bid for the White House. For the next 10 months, he traversed his adopted state on her behalf, rallying Iowans to the cause.

“But there would be no second political act for Palin, and these days many followers like Singleton have moved on. He said Friday at an ice cream social at nearby Faith Baptist Bible College that he still admires the former Alaska governor and follows her on Facebook, but, politically, she holds little sway over him. Singleton didn’t even bother to attend Palin’s Sunday afternoon speech a short drive from here because he disagreed with her endorsement in Iowa’s Republican Senate primary.” http://wapo.st/1lqxGC2

STERLING FALLOUT: AMTRAK WON’T RENEW CLIPPERS SPONSORSHIP, via Kevin Robillard: Amtrak is distancing itself from the Los Angeles Clippers after the team’s owner [Donald Sterling] was caught on tape making racist remarks…. Virgin America, State Farm and CarMax have also announced they would be dropping sponsorship of the Clippers.” http://politico.pro/1kmx2nL

OUT — OREGON FROM THE STATE EXCHANGE, via Kyle Cheney: “Oregon just became the first state to bail on its Obamacare exchange, scrapping its broken enrollment website and letting the federal government take over. But it may not be the last.” http://politico.pro/1rGaUYK

TODAY’s TOP POLICY NEWS:

GOP SEES OPENING IN MILITARY MINIMUM WAGE HIKE, via Leigh Munsil and Philip Ewing: “Republicans and pro-business groups want to use the Pentagon as a stalking horse in a campaign to chip away at President Barack Obama’s new minimum wage mandate for federal contractors before it even begins.

“The Navy has asked the Labor Department to exempt some vendors from having to give workers a bump that would take them well beyond Obama’s required floor of at least $10.10 per hour. Republicans and business groups led by South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson have fallen into step, arguing the ripple effects from that requirement are putting people out of business and hurting troops and their families.

“Obama’s executive order mandating the new minimums takes effect on Jan. 1. If pro-business groups and their allies can win a pre-emptive victory before then, they could try to get other exemptions for other sectors of the federal contractor workforce as part of their broader campaign against higher minimum wages.

“At issue are hundreds of fast food restaurants operated on military bases around the country. The Labor Department is considering regulations that would require an additional ‘health and welfare’ benefit to be added to workers’ wages, which in some places would bump them as high as $13.69 per hour. Vendors complain they can’t afford to pay workers that much. Some are already going out of business, backers say.” http://politico.pro/1ja4uOF

INVESTORS UNHAPPY WITH BANK OF AMERICA, via Kate Davidson: “Bank of America stock took a hit on Monday after the bank said it will suspend planned dividend increases and share repurchases while it resubmits its capital plan to the Federal Reserve to correct an error in its capital calculations.” http://politico.pro/1k65FeW

QUIZ ANSWER — 90 PERCENT. Stephanie Simon reports: “The high school graduation rate has topped 80 percent for the first time in U.S. history — and if states can keep up their rapid pace of improvement, the rate could hit 90 percent by 2020, according to federal data released Monday.” http://politico.pro/1fqDNpM

UKRAINE WATCH: U.S. TROOPS IN PLACE IN EASTERN EUROPE, via Philip Ewing: “The last of about 600 American paratroopers arrived in Eastern Europe on Monday for infantry exercises the Pentagon says are meant to show America’s support for its allies during the Ukraine crisis.

“Detachments of about 150 troops apiece from the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) are now in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland to train with units of their host countries’ armies for about a month.

“Other companies from the 173rd will rotate in behind them until the end the year, the Pentagon said Monday, confirming that the successive deployments will come from the same brigade, based in Italy.” http://politico.pro/1fKFLMn

COMCAST WATCH: CHARTER DEAL SOWS SEEDS FOR TWC, via Brooks Boliek: “By announcing plans to spin off nearly 4 million subscribers on Monday, Comcast laid more groundwork for its ultimate goal — getting Washington to sign off on its acquisition of Time Warner Cable.

“The complex arrangement will hand 1.4 million of Time Warner Cable’s current customers to Charter Communications and spin off a new publicly traded company serving 2.5 million customers in which both Comcast and Charter will have a stake. It’s part of Comcast’s pledge to control less than 30 percent of the national cable marketplace.” http://politico.pro/1m2QYMe